ITV will screen most of the action live and for free on ITV1 and ITVX, while Racing TV (Sky channel 424/Virgin Media 536) will broadcast via its subscription-based service.
You don’t need an ITVX subscription to watch live racing – just an email address and a valid TV license. You can register for a free account or download the app to your mobile device.
If you’re away from home, you can use NordVPN to unlock your ITVX stream of the Grand National action from anywhere in the world.
Five of the seven races, including the Grand National, will be broadcast live on ITV1 (and can be streamed on ITVX). The first (12:45pm) and final race (5pm) of the day will not be available on ITV.
Whos presenting ITV Racing Grand National coverage?
The ITV racing coverage will, once again, be hosted by Ed Chamberlin, who has been the ITV Racing presenter since 2017. Richard Hoiles will be the lead commentator and will be supported by Mark Johnson and Stewart Machin.
Analysis will be provided by Sir AP McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and Rachael Blackmore. Alice Plunkett will be reporting from the course, Brian Gleeson on betting, Matt Chapman in the paddock and Luke Harvey at the start. Sam Quek will also be on your screens as part of the team.
Oli Bell will be presenting The Opening Show.
What time is the Grand National?
The Grand National will start at 4pm on Saturday 11 April 2026. The first race of the day is 12:45pm.
Full Grand National day race schedule
12:45pm | The Hallgarten and Novum Wines Maghull Novices’ Steeple Chase
1.20pm | The William Hill Handicap Hurdle Race
1.55pm | The Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle Race
2.30pm | The William Hill Handicap Steeple Chase
3.05pm | The Jet2 Liverpool Hurdle Race
4pm | The Randox Grand National Handicap Steeple Chase
5pm | The Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race
How to watch first and last race of the day
ITV will not broadcast the first or final races on Grand National Day, so you’ll need to switch over to Racing TV for this coverage.
How to watch the Grand National from anywhere
If you’re away from home and your normal ITVX coverage is geo-blocked, a VPN will get you your usual coverage from anywhere in the world.
There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. We’d suggest using a paid-for service such as NordVPN, where you can get an exclusive 75% off, which offers a 100% risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.
The Grand National is 4m 2½ furlongs, which equates to 6.94km.
How long does the Grand National last?
This is really dependent on the raceday conditions, but you can expect it to be complete in around 10–12 minutes. The average winning time is 9min 10sec, but there have been variations of the course and fence heights over the years.
The fastest time ever was 8min 47.8sec recorded by Mr Frisk in 1990, while the slowest time was the first ever running of the race in 1839, when Lottery took 14min 53sec to be the first across the line.
How many fences are in the Grand National?
The Grand National requires horses to jump a total of 30 fences over two laps of the Aintree course. There are 16 individual fences, but only only 14 are jumped on the second circuit – The Chair (15) and The Water Jump (16) are omitted.
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